The research described in this contribution provides quantitative data on contamination levels with Salmonella and Campylobacter in chicken and chicken products in The Netherlands at retail level using the most probable number method and direct counting. Most samples contained <10 Salmonella per carcass, both in fresh (89%) and frozen (68%) products, contamination levels with Campylobacter varied from <10 (18%) to more than 5,500 (18%) per fresh carcass. Most frozen samples (57%) contained < 10 Campylobacter per carcass.

In 1991 and 1993 cereals were sampled during harvest in The Netherlands. The samples were tested for the presence of molds and the samples of 1993 were additionally tested for the mycotoxins deoxynivalenol and zearalenone. The molds were identified to genus level and those belonging to the genus Fusarium to species level. The total fungal infection of cereals in 1991 did not differ from 1993, with a median value of 5.0 log CFU g−1 in both years. The incidences of the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, the group of Mucor and Rhizopus, Cladosporium, and Fusarium differed considerably between the two years, possibly caused by the different weather conditions. The numbers of samples infected with Fusarium were much higher in 1993 (83%) than in 1991 (34%). In 1991, no Fusarium was detected in samples from the southern part of The Netherlands, as opposed to 1993, when Fusarium was found in all regions sampled. The most dominant Fusarium species in 1991 were Fusarium culmorum and Fusarium avenaceum. In 1993, Fusarium poae, Fusarium culmorum, and Fusarium crookwellense dominated. All these Fusarium species are known mycotoxin producers. Three percent of the cereal samples of 1993 contained deoxynivalenol and 1% contained zearalenone in levels of over 500 μg kg−1 and 200 μg kg−1, respectively. This study has shown that the incidences of various fungal genera and Fusarium species in cereals in The Netherlands can vary from year to year. Considerable numbers of toxigenic Fusarium molds can occur and Fusarium mycotoxins may be present.

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A comparison was made between a commercially available enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) and various cultural procedures for detecting salmonellas in minced meat contaminated with a standard inoculum. To detect salmonellas by the ELISA technique, it was necessary to modify the recommended baseline for spectrophotometric measurements to avoid false‐positive results. The incidence of false‐negatives was no greater than that obtained with a standard isolation procedure. Both methods were affected by the competing microflora.